Our Long Goodbye
by kingdom219
Summary: [ONESHOT] Naruto finally realizes that he loves Hinata....but it comes with a price.


**Author's Note:** I got the idea for this one-shot from the song "Run" by Snow Patrol. It's a very good song. It mixes a sad and happy tone which makes you feel…well, great and sad at the same time. I hope you like it! Flames accepted! PS- everyone is now 17.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto (anything in relation to it) or the song Run. Everything else, I own.

Lyrics "Speech" **_Flashback_**

**_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_**

**Our Long Goodbye**

I'll sing it one last time for you  
Then we really have to go  
You've been the only thing that's right  
In all I've done 

And I can barely look at you  
But every single time I do  
I know we'll make it anywhere  
Away from here

"I'm so sorry Hinata…" I whispered miserably as I listened to the steady beep of the LCD screen. She just lay there, like a doll just tossed aside….and it was all my fault. The mission that Tsunade gave Team 7 and 8 was just a simple C-rank, go to the border of Sand and Fire country and pass a scroll that had information on the villages progress, and he or she would do the same.

But…we didn't expect an ambush.

**_-Flashback-_**

Light up, light up  
As if you have a choice  
Even if you cannot hear my voice  
I'll be right beside you dear 

Louder, louder  
And we'll run for our lives  
I can hardly speak I understand  
Why you can't raise your voice to say

"Come on!" Naruto shouted impatiently. "How long are we gonna take? We've been walking all day!"

"Well, Naruto, about another three miles and we've reached the half-way point." Kakashi-sensei told him with a look of mirth.

"WHAT!" He shouted in disbelief. "HALF-WAY!"

"Naruto, you idiot!" Sakura yelled, knocking him on the head making him fall to the ground.

"He's kidding…" Kiba sighed, stepping over the injured Naruto.

"A-are you o-okay, Naruto-kun?" A shy Hinata asked, bending down to see if Naruto was okay.

Getting up slowly, he smiled at her and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, Hinata-chan. Although, all she had to do was SAY IT!" He finished yelling at Sakura. After he had gotten Sasuke back and killed Orochimaru and Itachi, Naruto and Hinata had gotten closer as friends, although, he was still oblivious to her infatuation with him.

"Well, come on, dobe, we're about a mile away from the border." Sasuke said as he walked past.

"Well, well, well…" a malicious voice said through the air. "Seven little ninja, from the Hidden Leaf Village…and my target…how entertaining…."

"Everyone, be on your-gah!" Kakashi-sensei was cut off by three kunai with explosive tags on them landing at his and Kurenai's feet and detonating, sending them into trees.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura shouted rushing over to help them.

"Guys, get in a circle!" Kiba yelled jumping back as did the others.

"Hahaha….like that's gonna help you…" the voice mocked. There was a swooshing sound and a thud from inside of the circle. The group turned around to see another explosive kunai in the center of their circle. "…boom!" the man whispered almost inaudibly.

"Shit!" Naruto yelled jumping back as the weapon exploded knocking the others around.

"So, the demon is fast…." The man said with a sound of enjoyment in his voice. Naruto landed and looked around at his friends. Sasuke, Shino, and Kiba were on the ground struggling to get up, while Sakura was helping Kakashi and Kurenai. Hinata was nowhere to be found.

"Must've got blasted into the forest…" Naruto whispered to himself as a figure leaped from the trees and landed in front of the groups intended path. "Who are you, and what do you want!" Naruto yelled and the man.

"I am Kanji Motoashi." The man smirked. "A Demon Hunter. I am here to kill the carrier of the nine tailed demon Kyubi, which, is you." The man, Kanji, had grey pants taped shut at the bottom with red flames on the sides riding up, a katana on his right side. He was wearing a long unbuttoned, red, shirt with nothing underneath. Grey hair, and scars going across his cheeks and chest. The most shocking thinks were his eyes. They were red as blood, like the Sharingan, but with out the black commas. They were dead and lifeless, showing his sadistic nature.

"Naruto, run!" Kakashi yelled trying to get up. "This man is in the top ranked Bingo books, you don't stand a chance."

"I'm not leaving my team behind!" he argued back, pulling out a kunai and settling in his battle stance.

"Oh, so you wish to die?" Kenji laughed, pulling out his blade. "Then DIE!" He screamed running forward at blistering speeds.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled after doing some hand seals. Instantly, twenty Naruto's appeared, each in the same stance as the original. As Kenji got near, they all leaped away and scattered.

All the while, not noticing Hinata running out of the forest to help Sakura with aiding the others.

"So you think you can fool me, eh?" Kenji laughed. He began to run at the clones, slashing at each one, all of them disappearing, until only two stood standing. "Now you're gonna die!" He burst forward, plunging his sword into ones chest and then cutting the other one right after. "You're de-what!" He yelled as both clones disappeared. As that happened, Naruto burst out from the ground and kicked the sword out of his hands, flipping. He landed, shot forward and stabbed him in the chest with his kunai.

"DON'T EVER HURT MY FRIENDS AGAIN!" Naruto yelled, kicking him in the face, sending him to the ground, sputtering blood and gasping for air, before going still and dying.

Naruto took one last look at the man, before standing up and walking towards the others. "You okay?" He asked as he helped Hinata and Kiba up. He was limping and a bit unsteady from digging and using so much charka to help.

"Yes, I-I'm fine Naruto-k-kun." She smiled, meekly. "Are you?"

"I'll be fine…just used too much charka to speed up the digging." He smiled at her as he walked past. Just then he felt a stinging in his neck. He reached up and pulled out a needle. "Wha-?" He stopped when he realized he couldn't move.

"That'll make sure you don't move…" a weak voice yelled. "If I die, you go too!" Out from the ground, a bloody and beaten Kenji appeared with his sword in hand. In one fluid motion, he thrust it forward. Naruto closed his eyes to wait for the end, but instead, felt drops warm liquid hit his face. Slowly, he opened his eyes to see Hinata in front of him with the tip of a katana sticking out of her stomach.

"No!" Naruto yelled as he watched the blade being pulled out of her, and she fell limply to the ground. Naruto, feeling strength again, caught her before she hit the ground.

"Chidori!" Two voices yelled as two balls of lightning slammed into Kenji, killing him and sending him into a tree instantly.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto yelled franticly, lightly shaking her. She was bleeding badly from her wound, but still, showed no signs of pain but a look of content, with a small smile on her face and her eyes closed.

To think I might not see those eyes  
makes it so hard not to cry  
and as we say our long goodbye  
I nearly do

"Naruto, let her go." Kurenai said, trying to get him to let go of the girl.

"No…" He whispered, hugging her to his chest.

"Naruto-"

"-I said no!"

"Let go so they can stop the bleeding!" Sasuke yelled, forcefully, ripping him from her and dragging him back. Immediately, Sakura ran forward and healed her stomach.

"I stopped the bleeding, but it's not enough," She sighed sadly. "She needs to get to a hospital, and fast."

"Alright," Kurenai said. "Kiba, Shino, Sasuke, and I will continue forward, while Naruto, you and Kakashi head back to Konoha. We'll meet back in the village." Everyone nodded, and headed out.

_**-End Flashback-**_

It took us less than half a day to reach the village by moving nonstop and going as fast as our bodies would allow. Once we reached the gates, the guards almost didn't let me in but once they say Hinata with Kakashi, the changed their minds.

The injury wasn't so bad as most had thought, but, as it turns out, the blade was covered in a poison and is slowly…slowly… eating away at…at her insides. The Medic's did everything they could…or so they say, but unless they find Tsunade, who just so happened to take a walk outside the village, she won't last the night.

So now, here I sit, watching her steady breathing and listening to that dammed machine, either waiting for baa-chan to get her and save her, or….or for her to die. "It's all my fault, Hinata-chan…" I whispered as small tears ran down my cheeks. "If I hadn't…if I hadn't made sure that bastard was dead…then, maybe…maybe you wouldn't be here…."

Light up, light up  
As if you have a choice  
Even if you cannot hear my voice  
I'll be right beside you dear 

Louder, louder  
And we'll run for our lives  
I can hardly speak I understand  
Why you can't raise your voice to say

"I remember when you fell, and the thoughts that I was thinking at the time…" I whispered, taking a hold of her cold hand. "You were always watching me, huh? Although, people thought I didn't notice, I always did…and I watched you, too. Not directly, but out of the corner of my eyes, I watched you become stronger and better yourself." I stopped to let another hiccup of air in. "I'm not as dumb as people think I am, ya know? I knew how you felt about me, or at least, I think I did….

I always thought you were afraid of me…you were always looking away when ever I was around or stuttering and tapping you fingers together…But that didn't explain why you kept calling me 'Naruto-kun' and cheering for me, like in the Chunnin exams. Although, you helped me at times…I guess when I try to help you, you end up getting hurt like in the exams…and now...

You know…I never noticed how beautiful you were until this mission. Your hair and the way it makes your lavender eyes stick out just a bit more. Or how cute your face is when your bite the bottom of you lips. Or how…Heh…listen to me…I sound like a fan-boy….But the bottom line is….I, I guess I never realized that, consciously or subconsciously, I've always felt the same way about you, as you did for me."

Slower, slower  
We don't have time for that  
All I want is to find an easier way  
To get out of our little heads

The song kept playing in my head, and…it really matched how I felt at the moment. Saying, what was going though my head…..pain. "We made a promise, Hinata…" I whispered to her softly. "I said once I became Hokage, I would help you make the Hyuga Clan better and not so strained with each other, remember? That was another one of my biggest goals. So if you die, what's the point, at least with that I knew where to go once I became Hokage." I stopped as I heard the LCD beeps get a fraction faster. "God-damn-it, baa-chan, hurry…." I growled. "Hinata…you were the first person to ever be nice to me and fully understand how my life was like. I want to spend the rest of that life with you."

I heard the door open and close as a person stepped in. "Naruto, we have to go…" It was Sasuke. "The doctors will contact-"

"-I'm not leaving her." I cut him off forcefully. I continued to stare at her calm face with tears once again welling up into my eyes. "This is my fault. So I'm not leaving her alone."

He sighed before placing a hand on my shoulder. "I can't grasp fully how you feel about her, but I can get a little bit of it." He said calmly. He was always like a brother to me. "You got ten more minutes…" I nodded as he left out the door. Outside I could hear him talking with Kakashi-senesi.

"He's a wreck…he won't leave her…not until one or the other happens…"

"I've never seen him like this…" Sakura whispered. "Or move that fast to get here."

"He thinks it's his fault…" Kakashi-senesi sighed.

"But it wasn't. He couldn't do anything." Sasuke argued.

"I know that, but he still thinks it is." He replied. "He loves her…"

"He's right, you know…" I whispered to Hinata. "I do love you…I just wish you were awake to hear that."

"Have they found Tsunade yet?" I heard Sakura ask.

"No, not yet." Kakashi-senesi sighed.

Suddenly, the beeping began to pick up pace. "No…please, kami, not her…" I sobbed. In a matter of seconds the doctors rushed in, a few of them trying to drag me away.

Have heart my dear  
We're bound to be afraid  
Even if it's just for a few days  
Making up for all this mess

It was true, I was afraid.

Afraid to lose the girl I recently realized that I loved. Afraid to not be able to hold her in my arms, kiss her lips, hear her laughter and he angelic voice. Afraid to lose the one purpose for me becoming Hokage.

I fought as hard as I could, going as far as pulling out my weapon to reach her side again. I kicked; I screamed and yelled for them to let me go, let me be with her. And then…there was a steady ringing. Everything stopped in that instant. Time, movement, sound….everything stopped and all I could hear was that fucking ringing of the flat line LCD monitor.

Light up, light up  
As if you have a choice  
Even if you cannot hear my voice  
I'll be right beside you dear

Just then, Tsunade came sprinting into the hospital doors too late…like everything else that surrounds me.

Too late for me to realize that Kanji was still lightly breathing, too late for me to hear him throw the needle, and too late for me to realize that I really did love her. The only thing I could do now was stare at her beautiful lifeless body, with that soft but caring smile still on her face, and sob.

She was gone from me. Gone from me telling her how I really feel to her smiling face.

And with her, my one and only purpose to fulfill my dreams. There was no point anymore, not without her by my side.

And as I watched them drape the cold white sheet over her face, I felt myself die with her, knowing that I will never again hear her soft voice, watch her cutely tap her fingers together when she was near me, smell her lavender shampoo, or look deep into those eyes that showed so much compassion and love.

As Tsunade began to pull me away and out the door, I looked back at her one last time and smiled.

"Soon, I'll be right beside you, dear…." My dream was useless without her in it.

So…I'll just go to her.

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R/R!

-Kingdom219


End file.
